9/27/2011

As many of you know, the Bulgarian rhythmic group won the gold in one of the finals at the World Championship in Montpellier. Here is their winning routine, which I find "safe" but smoothly executed:

To take us on a trip of beauty back in time, I will also remind you of the last time the Bulgarian group won a world title: in 2005 under Lili Ignatova with these ethereal 5 ribbons, also a very safe routine, with some extremely intelligent choreography:

Finally, another 6 years ago, one of my favorite groups of all time presented this routine at the Worlds in Osaka. You will spot a lot of differences in the level of risk, originality and style between those routines. Feel free to share with me what those differences are.

But I can tell you this: despite the error, this routine is crazy. And I would dare many 2011 teams to perform it. Double-dare: perform it with wide smiles on their faces:

Sometimes the most daring routines are not winning ones. But they do win the hearts of the fans. However, it is important to be "safe" and "smart" when you are going for a world title. And now the Bulgarian team is doing just that. 12 years ago we were really "out there" in terms of innovating. But now we are back on the podium!